1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waterproof and/or water-resistant camera, and more precisely, it relates to a waterproof and/or water-resistant camera having a photographing lens barrel which is movable relative to a camera body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, water-resistant cameras which do not permit rain, spoondrift (spray) or the water from a stream to permeate therethrough, and waterproof cameras which can take a picture even in shallow water have been available on the market. In known cameras, of this type the connection between the movable photographing lens barrel and immovable camera body does not provide adequate watertightness. In a zoom lens camera, a photographing lens barrel is mounted to the camera body so as to retractably and relatively move through an opening formed in the front wall of the camera body. To this end, it is known to provide an annular seal member in the space between the outer periphery of the photographing lens barrel and the inner peripheral edge of the opening in the front wall of the camera body.
As a camera of this type is often used at the beach, in the rain or even in shallow water, there is a high possibility that sand from the beach or muddy water will become lodged in the space between the photographing lens barrel and the camera body. When the photographing lens barrel moves in the rearward direction with a grain of sand lodged between the annular seal member and the surface of the photographing lens barrel, a scratch would be made on the surface of the photographing lens barrel causing a decrease of watertightness of the camera unless the surface of the photographing lens barrel is hard enough to avoid being scratched.